Daniel Penny indicted in Jordan Neely subway death as ex-marine’s arraignment set for 28 June

This live blog will cover the reported indictment of Daniel Penny for the New York City subway death of Jordan Neely.

An online fundraising campaign for Mr Penny’s legal defence was launched on the Christian crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo, a website created in response to GoFundMe removing far-right campaigns that violated its terms of service.

The fundraiser reached more than $2m within days of its launch, including roughly $600,000 on the day Mr Penny was charged alone.As of 14 June, following news of a grand jury indictment, the fundraiser has reached more than $2.8m.

Several donors – including Kid Rock, far-right streamer Tim Pool, and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy – have contributed huge sums to Mr Penny’s fund, which is run by his attorneys. Mr Ramaswamy donated $10,000.

“Penny is the Subway Good Samaritan and we are lucky to have brave souls like him who are willing to do the right thing,” said Mr Pool, who confirmed his $20,000 donation on 15 May.

“Thank you for protecting the citizens that day,” wrote another donor who contributed $10,000.

“Mr Penny is a hero. Alvin Bragg is a POS,” Kid Rock wrote in a message with his $5,000 donation.

The lawyers, Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff of the firm Raiser & Kenniff, issued the following statement:

“While we respect the decision of the grand jury to move this case forward to trial, it should be noted that the standard of proof in a grand jury is very low and there has been no finding of wrongdoing. We’re confident that when a trial jury is tasked with weighing the evidence, they will find Daniel Penny’s actions on that train were fully justified,” Mr Raiser said.

“We’re all saddened at the loss of human life,” added Mr Kenniff. “Daniel Penny saw a genuine threat and took action to protect the lives of others.”

“The National Action Network has stood in support of Jordan’s family since day one. This was a clear-cut case of vigilantism that has no place in our society, which is why I spoke against it at Jordan’s funeral,” Rev Sharpton said in his statement.

The 24-year-old former US Marine was initially charged with second-degree manslaughter last month.

Alex Woodward has the story.

New York Democrat advocated for victim and his family after his death and attended his funeral in Harlem on 19 May.

Lawyers from Mills & Edwards representing Jordan Neely’s family, issued a statement, saying “We believe in our criminal justice system and believe it worked today.

“Daniel Penny’s indictment is the right result for the wrong he committed. The grand jury’s decision tells our city and our nation that “no one is above the law” no matter how much money they raise, no matter what affiliations they claim, and no matter what distorted stories they tell in interviews. Bottom line- at some point Mr Penny should have let go before Jordan died.

“There is no excuse for choking anyone for that long. Any reasonable person knows choking someone for that long will kill them.Daniel Penny did not have the right to be the judge, jury and executioner.

“The fight is not over but it took a lot of work to get to this place. The Neely family sends its sincerest thanks especially to our courageous elected officials like AOC and others, every peaceful protester and all who still believe wrong actions should have consequences.

“We will continue to fight on behalf of Jordan as this process moves forward.”